Satellite images show new bridge near Ukraine despite Russia's troop withdrawal claims
India Today
Satellite images show that Russia continues its military build-up near Ukraine despite claims of withdrawal.
Despite the claims of troop withdrawal, Russia continues to enforce a significant military build-up near the Ukraine border, new satellite imagery provided by space firm Maxar technologies suggests.
Russia has even constructed a new temporary bridge over the Pripyat River, only six kilometres from the Belarus-Ukraine border. The bridge is strategically important as it cuts the distance between the already deployed Russian units and Ukraine.
Read: 7k additional Russian troops deployed near Ukraine border, says US official
"There's what Russia says. And then there's what Russia does. And we haven't seen any pullback of its forces," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in an interview. "We continue to see critical units moving toward the border, not away from the border,” he told MSNBC. Russia earlier published videos claiming that columns of tanks and military vehicles were returning to their permanent bases.
At a forward location called Zyabrovka in Belarus, although the ground troops seem to have departed, a new formation of attack helicopters was seen on satellite imagery on February 15. The new attack helicopter unit seen at Zyabrovka airfield consists of at least 18 helicopters, possibly including the Mi-8 and Ka-52 helicopters. While ground troops seem to have moved from a few locations, there is hardly any evidence to prove that those are backward movements.
The US on Thursday warned that Russia had added as many as 7,000 troops near Ukraine’s borders despite claims of withdrawal. Earlier estimates suggested that Russia had gathered more than 150,000 troops in the east, north and south of Ukraine.
Other areas in Belarus near the Ukraine border, such as Brest and Osipovichi, continue to witness a troop build-up, whereas significant movement from Rechitsa has been witnessed. In the satellite imagery captured on February 16, armored equipment and self-propelled artillery units can be seen in the Brestsky training area near Brest. Some additional troops were also seen at Brest railyard.
